Hey, hey, Mark Ottobre here,
owner and founder of Enterprise Fitness.
In this video, I'm gonna be sharing with you five tips
on how to build lean muscle.
Tip number one is eat enough complete protein.
So I know there's been a big push recently
for plant-based diets and the notion
that you can get all your protein requirements
met from plants.
Well, I wanna say that well, technically,
that might be true,
however, you're not gonna get complete protein.
So a protein or a meal asset that is absolutely crucial
in protein synthesis is leucine.
So if you don't have enough leucine,
you're not gonna be able to tick over
or it's like the trigger
that pulls the gun towards protein synthesis.
I mean, that's just one of many amino acids
that are gonna help.
So plant-based proteins are inferior, without a doubt.
They are inferior to animal-based proteins
and it is the way it is.
Now, you can fortify that diet
but if you wanna build lean muscle,
you really are putting yourself
at a disadvantage by being on a plant-based diet.
Now, again this isn't the Vegans Are Us channel
but I am gonna state is simply
that you are better off eating a varied diet.
Now, in terms of protein recommendations,
we will do anywhere a 1.6
to anywhere between three times body weight
of your protein.
So that is quite a big reference.
So if we're looking to lean someone out,
they'll typically be on a higher protein diet.
If someone is looking to add weight,
they'll typically be a little bit less,
maybe at the 1.62 times body weight
and the reason for that
is because we're gonna be able
to add more carbs and fats into that diet,
whereas if we're trying to lean them out,
we usually increase their protein
and then bump back their carbs and fats.
So again, tip number one
is eat enough complete protein
and again, this is, we are talking animal proteins here
because they are better sources
when it comes to getting all of your amino acids in.
So tip number two for building lean muscle
is eat enough fat.
Now, this might sound a little bit redundant or ridiculous
or whatever it is.
I'm not sure.
But fat is crucial, it's a crucial part
of basically a cell.
Lipids are crucial to the body.
I mean, cholesterol is a building block
of all hormones.
You do need fat in your diet.
So the way we calculate fat
is 0.8 times body weight.
And again fat, fats have so many functions
inside the body so you can't simply just be on a diet.
If you are looking to build muscle,
that is abstain or very, very low in fat.
We do think that is a mistake.
Can you go on a keto diet and build muscle mass?
It certainly isn't our preferred way to do things
because performance does suffer.
So fat, we usually calculate at around .8 times body fat.
Sources for fat are things like butter,
ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado.
They're our preferred sources
but certainly make sure
that you're consuming enough fat.
So typically, at every meal,
you're gonna have a quality protein source
and a quality fat source as a minimum.
Tip number three, eat enough carbs.
So a lot of people like to abstain from carbs,
which I think is a huge mistake.
You wanna eat enough carbs.
So typically, when you've calculated someone's protein,
you've calculated their fat,
carbs is kinda gonna be what's left,
which is gonna be indicative of how much,
I suppose fat, I suppose or really protein you give someone.
Carb sources that we like are rice,
red rice, black rice, white rice preferably,
sweet potato, pumpkin.
If it is fat loss, we do choose more of our pumpkins,
which is more of your lower GI, quinoa, or quinoa,
however people like to pronounce that.
When people get lean enough,
we could even include things like maple syrup.
So abstaining from carbs certainly is a huge mistake
if you're looking to pack on lean muscle
because what is gonna fuel your workouts?
It's gonna be carbohydrates.
So again, to recap on the first two points
was make sure you have complete proteins,
make sure you have good fat sources
and then make sure you have a carb
but carbs are gonna be moderated,
depending on whether you're looking at building
or whether you're looking at stripping back
but certainly, for the most part,
it's never gonna be a no-carb diet.
That's certainly again moving towards keto.
I don't find those diets really that great for performance.
People are out there who promote those things
but if you can time your carbs around your workout,
after your workout, I do really believe
that you are gonna get a better result
from including carbohydrate into your plan.
Tip number four, space your meals
or space your digestion as I like to call it.
So a lot of people, they might have a really big meal
and then try and eat something else after that.
Really, you wanna look at your food
that you're eating.
So what's gonna make a meal?
Again, to recap on the first couple of points.
The recap: you're gonna have a quality protein,
you're gonna have a quality fat
and you're gonna have a quality carbohydrate
at most of your meals.
So you are gonna obviously fit in vegetables
in those meals as well, obviously, that'd be good
but you really wanna space
those meals according to digestion.
So you never wanna be force feeding
or eating just because you're supposed to eat.
You really wanna make sure there's enough space.
What's enough space?
Usually around two or three hours.
This is why it's hugely advisable
that people don't eat straight before bed
because it is gonna interrupt.
So that routine, if you're used to getting up,
eating first thing in the morning,
which by the way, I do recommend that you eat breakfast,
I'm not one of these people who is a breakfast skipper
and if you eat really late at night,
it's gonna impede on your appetite
to eat breakfast first thing.
So you definitely wanna create some spacing in the day
that you're not just constantly shoveling in food
and your appetite does start to kick up.
And this even goes further to say
that if you're eating like bits of chocolate
or bits of anything, even it could be a piece of fruit
when you're not really supposed to be eating the meal,
I would say portion it out.
Like, if you wanna have that piece of fruit,
put it in with the meal.
Have feeding times.
The way I like to think about this
is tigers versus cows.
Tigers, or lions I should say in this analogy,
hunt their food, they eat their food
when it's mealtime.
Cows eat food all day.
So we look at that as predator and prey eating behaviors.
So a really easy way to think about it
is you wanna space your meals more like the predator.
Eat your meals, move on.
Don't snack and graze throughout the day.
And point number five, don't drink your calories.
Now, probably the first thing you're wondering
is what do you mean don't drink my calories?
Isn't whey protein good for me?
Well, short answer to that
is drinking calories won't go as far as eating your food.
Food is gonna go further in terms of nutrient value
and also, if you are dieting,
what I do find with clients and competitors
is that simply, eating real food satisfies the appetite
for a lot longer than drinking a say protein workout shake.
Certainly if you are dieting,
you wanna avoid things like Maltodextrin shakes.
So be very, very particular in terms
of what you're doing with that say pre and post-workout.
For most people watching this video,
I would advise against it
or to only use it under the care
of a very, very qualified trainer
or coach who's able to help you with that.
And look, if you do need a hand,
and you want a coach who is able
to work those variables
if this all seems like a bit too much to do yourself,
reach out to us here at Enterprise Fitness.
We have a team of coaches who are experts
in this stuff and are able
to help you put together the winning plan for you
that is individualized
and sure to help you get in the best shape possible.
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'Til next time, folks,
train hard, supplement smart and eat well.
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